STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH
Student Safety Starts Within.

Improve school safety by developing and funding a comprehensive plan of programs and services specifically designed to help students be mentally strong and prepared to cope with personal challenges, and systems to identify and provide services to students in need of mental health intervention.

BACKGROUND

• Half of all mental health conditions manifest by age 14, and interventions are most effective at the early stages of onset when symptoms are less severe.¹

• Among the 4.9 million Texas children between the ages of 6 and 17, 1.9 million are identified with behavioral health needs.

• Of those, the 20,000 children most at risk to commit violence are those with the most severe needs and fewest economic and family resources.

• Over the past 10 years, attempted suicide rates among Texas high school students have increased from 8.4% to 12.3%, and attempts requiring medical treatment increased from 2.6% to 4.5%.²

• Mental illness is not the driving factor of violence; those with diagnosed mental health conditions are more likely to hurt themselves or be hurt by someone else than to harm another individual.³

• The Centers for Disease Control identifies campus connectedness as an important factor to prevent risk behaviors and improve academic achievement.

• When schools fully implement comprehensive school counseling programs students feel safer, disciplinary referrals decline, attendance rates increase, and students improve and are more likely to pursue post-secondary degrees.⁴

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#SafeAndSound

¹ Dr. Andy Keller, CEO of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, testimony before Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security, June 11, 2018.
² Dr. Clifford K. Moy, Director of Behavioral Health at TMF Health Quality Institute, testimony before Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security, June 11, 2018.
³ Dr. Jeff Temple, director of Behavioral Health and Research at UTMB, testimony before Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security, June 11, 2018.
⁴ Sharon Bey, Counseling Coordinator Waller ISD, testimony before Senate Select Committee on Violence in Schools and School Security, June 11, 2018.